Tool for oil-wells



(No Model.)

G. WOODARD. TOOL FOR OIL WELLS. No. 505,377. Patented Sept. 19, 1893.

Fig.1. Fig.2. Fig.3;

WITNESSES: INVENTOH: I

7% dma ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE WOODARD, OF BRADFORD, PENNSYLVANIA.

TOOL FOR OIL-WELLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 505,377, datedSeptember 19, 1893.. Application filed June 8, 1893. Serial No.476,914.' (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE IVOODARD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Bradford, in the county of McKean and State of Pennsylvania,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tools forOil-Wells; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference beinghadto the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to oil wells wherein oil is pumped up to thesurface of the ground through tubing from the bottom of a deep shaft bya reciprocating rod and valves arranged similarly to those in anyordinary pump. The cylinder or barrel in which the pumping valve orpiston works is a section of pipe (of slightly less diameter than thetubing) which is attached at the lower end of the tubing and forms acontinuation thereof, being designated the working barrel. At the bottomof the working barrel is a stationary valveseat supporting a ball checkvalve called the standing valve, and above the standing valve within theworking barrel reciprocates the pumping piston or working valve which iscarried by a valve-stem at the lower end of a series of rods, commonlycalled sucker rods, whichextend up through i the tubing to the mouth ofthe well. By the reciprocation of the sucker-rods, the workingvalvecarried thereby is reciprocated within the working-barrel and oil isthereby pumped up through the tubing. The working-valve ordinarilyincludes a series of annular expansion cups of some compressible andelastic material, with alternating metallic rings, which are held inplace upon the valve and expanded to fit closely Within theworkingbarrel by a metallic nut or collar screwing onto the hollow stemaround which the said expansion cups and metallic rings fit. Now in oilWells where a working-valve of the character indicated is employed, itfrequently happens that the cups and rings of the working Valve becomedetached during the pumping operation in consequence of the accidentalunscrewing of their retaining nut or collar, and when this occurs muchdifficulty is ex- 1 perienced in endeavoring to fish out thedisconnected parts, especially for the reason that some if not all ofthe detached cups and rings fall into a tilted position, so that if thestem from which theyhave slipped is let down upon them it catches in thedisarranged cups and rings and cannot be made to pass through ,them toengage with the detached nut or collar underneath.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a special toolwhich, when the cups and rings of the working-valve have becomedetached, can be connected to the sucker-rods and can be readily made toengage with the detached parts and enable them to be lifted out so as tobe replaced upon the workingvalve.

The drawings illustrate the construction and use of the tool.

Figure 1, is a side elevationofthe tool byitself. Fig. 2, is alongitudinal section (on a reduced scale) of a portion of the workingbarrel of an oil-well, showing in elevation the and O is the usualstationary val-veseat and ball-check-valve at the bottom of theworking-barrel. The working-valve carried by valve-stem N, comprises theball-check-valve P; its cage Q screwinginto the threaded socket 'n atthe lower end of the valve-stem; the tube or hollow stem R screwing intothe cage Q, forming at its upper end the seat for ball-valve P, andhaving near its upper end aflange or shoulder r; the annular expansioncups S, and alternating rings T, fitting upon the hollow stem Rin thenormal condition of the valve (but shown detached therefrom in thedrawings); and the metallic nut or collar U, which screws onto the lowerthreaded end of the hollow stem R to retain the cups and rings S T uponthe stem. \Vhen the workingvalve is in its normal operative conditionthe cups and rings S T are held and compressed between the nut orcollarUand the shoulder r of stem B. This form and arrangement of valvesshown in Fig. 2, are common and wellknown in oil wells.

Figs. 1 and 3, illustrate the improved tool constituting the presentinvention, which is adapted to be attached at the lower end of thesucker-rods for the purpose of fishing out the parts S T U when theyhave become disconnected from the working-valve. The form of the tooland the manner in which it engages with the detached parts are clearlyshown in the drawings. The tool may be of iron, and comprises a centralcylindrical shank or body portion A; a threaded portion B, and beveledpoint C, at one end of said shank A; and at the other end of said shanka squared portion D, a projecting cylindrical collar E, and a threadedpin F. The threaded pin F at the upper end of the tool has the properdiameter and pitch to enable it to be screwed into the threaded socket nof valve-stem N, while the threaded portion B at the lower end of thetool has the proper diameter and pitch to enable it to be screwed intothe threaded bottom nut U of the working-valve. Preferably thescrew-threads at B are continued down to cover a portion of the beveledpoint C, which facilitates the engagementof the tool with the threadedsocket of the detached nut U. The shank A of the tool is of a lengthsuflicient to enable the tool to be passed through all of the cups andrings S T and screwed into nut U. The cylindrical collar E is of greaterdiameter than shank A andis justlarge enough to tit and slide freelywithin the workingbarrel M. The purpose of the beveled point 0 is tocause the tool to pass through the cups and rings S T when they are sotilted that their central openings are not in line with each other. Thesquared portion D of the tool is provided to enable a wrench'to beapplied when necessary for the purpose of unscrewing the tool from thevalve-stem. For screwing the tool on the use of a wrench is notordinarily required, and the collar E facilitates the screwing on of thetool by hand since it enables the operator to more firmly grasp thetool. The main purpose and function of the collar E, however, is toguide the tool in its descent through the tubing and keep it in thecenter of the working "barrel so that its point will properly engagewith the disconnected parts.

The manner of using the tool will be understood to be as follows:-Whenthe cups and rings S T and their retaining nut U become detached fromthe stem R of the working-valve and drop to the bottom of theworking-barrel, the sucker-rods are drawn out of the well, the remainingportions P Q R of the working valve are removed from the valve-stem, andthe tool is screwed into the socket n of the valve-stem. Then the rodsare lowered into the well tubing, and the tool, guided by collar E,descends centrally within the working-barrel M, and by reason of itsbeveled point C slips easily down through the centralapertures of thecups and rings S T (most or all of which will have fallen into a tiltedposition), straightening out the cups and rings by its .passagetherethrough and entering the bottom nut U. Then by turningthesucker-rods at-themouth of the well the threaded portion B of thetool ismade to engage with the internal screwthreads of the nut U, so that bythen raising the rods the detached parts S T U will be drawn up withinreach of the operator who can then secure them again to the workingvalveand replace the valve upon its valvestem. In this manner the fishing out.of the detached parts is rendered quite a simple matter, and the use ofmy improved tool thus overcomes much of the trouble and annoyance whichhas heretofore been occasioned by the accidental detaching of the cupsand rings of the working-valve.

I claim as my invention- 1. An oil-well tool for fishing out the:detached cups and rings of the working-valve, said tool being adaptedat one end to be secured to the sucker-rods and at the other end toengage with the detached parts, and said tool having a beveled point C,a shank A of such diameter and length that it will pass through all ofthe detached cups and rings, and a guiding collar E above said shank A,substantially as set forth.

2. The described fishingout tool for oilwells adapted to be secured tothe suckerrods and having guiding collar E, squared portion D, shank A,threaded portion B, and beveled point C, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE WVOODARD.

Witnesses:

Gno. L. ROBERTS, J A. MOKELLEN.

